CASD solicitor billed 4,370 miles to district in 2 months

Photos by Tom Kelly IV
School Solicitor James E. Ellison, during the Coatesville area school board meeting in October of 2013 at the 9/10 center.

CALN – Coatesville Area School District solicitor James Ellison, who was hired at $200 per hour, worked about 359 hours and billed the school district for 4,370 miles of travel in two months.

The Coatesville Area School District responded last week to a right to know request filed for a complete list of school district solicitor James Ellison’s invoices as the lone practitioner with Susquehanna Legal Group.

Ellison was reappointed by the school district under his new law firm following his departure from his former firm, Rhoads & Sinon in December 2013.

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The 5-page document breaks down Ellison’s billing by date, activity, rate or fees, hours worked and the total amount to the school district. Mileage reimbursement is also included in the in the document under “expenses.”

Ellison traveled 160 miles on 24 different days to Coatesville Area School District, according to the document. There are some instances where he traveled more than two consecutive days to Coatesville, charging the school district for 160 miles per day, or about $89 per day.

He also traveled 88 miles from Chester County to Philadelphia on Jan. 29 and 30, 95 miles to a conference on Feb. 5 and 6, and 164 miles to the Chester County Courthouse. He also charged about $40 for parking.

The document does not indicate if Ellison is charging the school district for travel from his office in Harrisburg. The state’s capital is about 65 miles one way to the school district headquarters on Lincoln Highway in Coatesville.

When school board members voted on Ellison’s engagement letter in February it was mentioned that the district is paying for travel, excluding travel to and from Harrisburg. The district will also cover the cost of lodging and meals, “computerized legal research,” transcripts, postage, courier services, court costs, filing fees and other expenses over the course of Ellison’s employment.

According to the comment section on the bill list, the school district saved $15,000 in “travel time fees associated with roundtrip travel between (the school district) and Harrisburg office.”

As for Ellison’s hours totaling 4,370 miles from Jan. 3 to Feb. 28, he charged the school district for services that include attending executive meetings, attending regular meetings, performing preparation work, research, and attending conferences.

He worked more than 350 hours, or $71,832, for those two months.

School board president Neil Campbell could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The specific details of each task were redacted from the document before it was sent to the Daily Local News.

About the Author

Kristina Scala, a Brooklyn native and 2012 graduate of Rowan University, started working for the Daily Local News in August 2013. She covers Coatesville Area School District, Coatesville City and municipalities associated with the school district. Reach the author at KScala@dailylocal.com
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